Hyderabad: Sometimes I think that the Congress does not even try to hide that it is out of cards in politics. With the Jubilee Hills by election coming up soon, one would have thought that the ruling party maybe would have for a change tried to actually make significant social welfare announcements, for Muslims and others. But nope, it chose mere optics or tokenism instead with Azharuddin’s inclusion in the Telangana cabinet.
The fact that it took the party nearly two years after winning the Telangana Assembly elections in 2023 to include a Muslim face in the cabinet shows that it is not serious. Added to that the fact that it chose this exact moment before the Jubilee Hills by election to include Mohd Azharuddin pretty much shows that he is not going to be a person who is going to raise minority issues.
Plus I don’t need to remind anyone that Azharuddin in fact also lost the Jubilee Hills seat in the 2023 state polls. So it is not surprising that he had to be nominated as an MLC before being made a minister. The ex-criceketer has not necessarily made any significant contributions as well in the state given that he also holds the position of working president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee.
Moreover, Azhar himself has never been someone who has been vocal about minority issues, nor does he say much about any incidents of oppression on Muslims or other marginalised communities. I say this also because during my interaction with him during his campaign for the Jubilee Hills seat, he very specifically asked me not to look at him like a Muslim or minority face when I asked him something similar.
The Congress in Telangana could have chosen literally anyone else in the party, who is perhaps a more vocal leader, or has some credibility in social circles as a minority leader. But the fact that it chose Azharuddin pretty much shows that not only it is mere tokenism, but also that it does not want a strong voice. Telangana is not immune to right-wing radicalisation and Hyderabad over the last one-and-a-half years has seen a string of communal incidents and violence.
So a strong Muslim leader or voice from the Telangana Congress would make all the difference. In fact, this is something that also goes hand in hand with the theory many observers have – that the Congress is not grooming strong Muslim leaders due to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) and its unofficial alliance with the party.
“The AIMIM wants to be the only representative of Muslim voices which is why it will also never let other strong minority leaders grow in the Congress. Hence Azharuddin is the perfect candidate because he is also not someone who will take on the AIMIM that way. If you look at the party, there have not ben any strong minority leaders from the state who have come up since Telangana formed,” remarked a Muslim leader from Hyderabad when I asked his thoughts on Azhar’s inclusion in the state cabinet.
Plus, nor do I think that his inclusion in the Telangana cabinet will make a difference in the Jubilee Hills by election given that he is what we call an absentee leader – someone who is not on the ground and a known face. This is why local face Naveen Yadav was chosen as the Congress candidate for the by poll, which is scheduled to be held on November 11.
However, this will be Azharuddin’s first time holding a position in the state in an official capacity and I wish him all the best despite all of this. Perhaps he may even surprise everyone.
(The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s alone and do not reflect the publication’s in any way).
